Highlighting corruption, deceit and plain old incompetence in local London councils

Another massive Olympic kick in the nuts for motorists.

Nutsville has learnt of Westminster City Council’s plans to hand over more than 1000 parking spaces to Olympic corporate sponsors and corrupt IOC officials during the London 2012 games (Download source document here). The commandeered parking bays are to allow the Olympic freeloaders to visit West End shops, theatres and restaurants without the need to mix with the public riff-raff stuck with the capitals crumbling transport system.

The plans reveal that little regard has been given to disabled motorists who are to lose a minimum of 18 parking bays across the West End. Is this the same council that introduced nearly 8 kilometres of double yellow lines back in January this year, claiming it was to help disabled people get about? In London Street alone all 5 disabled parking bays are to be handed over to Olympic dignitaries to park, leaving the council pay-by-phone bays untouched. The council are also removing disabled and residents parking bays in Chandos Street, just behind the prestigious Langham Hotel. Olympic family hangers on will be spared the effort of having to walk too far from their limos in Chandos Street for afternoon tea at the hotel’s dazzling Palm Court, where tea for one starts at a mere £40.

taxi rank taken over in Berkley Sq

The licensed black cab trade are to lose a minimum 41 rank spaces. This kick in the teeth comes after TfL have refused so far to allow London’s only 100% wheelchair accessible form of public transport the use of the ultra exclusive Politburo London 2012 Games Lanes. When TfL were asked where any black cab drivers who needed to drop off disabled passengers in Park Lane were supposed to drop off, TfL’s response was that it was not their problem.

Walking or using public transport is not an option for the IOC bureaucrats and corporate sponsors shacked up in swanky Park Lane hotels who wish to travel less than a mile across Mayfair. As a fleet of 4000 BMW’s are on hand to whisk the Olympic toffs to St James Square and Waterloo Place where all the parking spaces are given over to the Olympic family’s indulgence.

You the public who have paid for this huge jolly are no doubt expected to stand at the side of the road waving your Chinese made Union Jacks at these dignitaries speeding past you in their £30,000 BMW’s. Don’t forget to smile nicely.

Westminster’s West End residents who have paid for residents permits are to lose an estimated 250 respark spaces. For years it has been known that Westminster City Council ‘over sell’ residents parking permits for the number of parking spaces they actually have. This latest move of handing over spaces residents have paid for to executives from the likes of Coca Cola, Dow Chemicals and McDonalds and the rest of the freeloading Olympic family, might just wind them up a little.

Hardest hit will of course be one of the more greener and congestion busting forms of transport, the motorcyclists, who can expect to lose nearly 500 parking spaces across the West End. Signs on the bays have already been modified, with the standard signs ready to peel off revealing the new Olympic signs underneath. We’ve enhanced this photo to show you wording underneath “Mon –Sun At any time 6am – Midnight” then the Olympic rings followed by the words “vehicles only”.

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The same Olympic sign can be seen hidden behind this Curzon Street disabled bay sign, which is right behind the Park Lane corporate nest.

Click on photo to enlarge

Pay and display bays will have standard yellow suspension notices, as in this case taking out bays for over a month.

Click on this photo to enlarge

Some bays have a sign claiming it is to become a clearway for the Olympic games, such as this one in Charlotte Street.

TfL and LOCOG falsely claiming parking bay is an Olympic clearway

But this is not the case, and is in fact a bay simply reserved for the Olympic hangers on to enjoy the fine restaurants in Charlotte Street.

In perhaps the most bizarre suspension of all sees the Royal National Lifeboat Institution’s lifeboat men and women losing all 10 of their emergency parking spaces on Victoria Embankment outside their station. Fortunately for the Olympic family the lifeboat parking spaces are rather close to the Savoy and the restaurant boats on the Thames. Lets hope no one falls in the Thames during the Olympics.

The myth that the Olympic clearways were to be used for emergency vehicles to park up is dispelled as LOCOG are also commandeering police parking bays.

We have calculated that at least 1119 spaces not included those lost on the Kingsway, Waterloo Place, Seymore Street, Portman Square, Park Lane and the whole of St James Square. We don’t see how closing off St James Square can improve the traffic flow, which is the excuse given on one suspension sign we’ve seen. Although it is very handy for shopping for posh biscuits at Fortnums.

Any idea that the London 2012 Olympics was to encourage tourists to visit London is also doubtful as coach bays and tour bus bays also make the list of parking spaces to be handed over to TfL/LOCOG.

It must be asked of the West End businesses who are already concerned over getting deliveries, just what is the true cost of the London 2012 Olympic games?

Green vehicles are also to be discouraged with the loss of electric vehicle charging bays and car club bays, all so that BMW limos can park.

After all we don’t want to see any of the Olympic family getting puffed out through having to walk too far do we?

Look on the bright side – a blazing airliner, zapped by the missile-toting lunatics perched on the roof of someone’s home, and dropping on their heads, is sure to take their minds off their parking problems.

LegolasJuly 9th, 2012 at 4:28 pm

Quoted from P. Large on 12th October 2011:

“The Council, by the way, is a democratically elected public body that is required to and does act in the public interest as it sees it…”

Perhaps you could explain which part it is that you see as being in the public interest in closing over 1100 parking spaces and 500 motorcycle parking spaces (many of which will have been paid for via annual permits) – an act which will impact many thousands of taxpaying Londoners – in order to make life a little more glamorous for a small number of non-elected bureaucrats and VIPs.

Robin GravesJuly 9th, 2012 at 4:38 pm

Unbelievable. Councillors and Government do nothing to increase public opinion, they just add another nail to the coffin every day. The most shameful of this is the loss of disabled spacing and spacing for emergencies. But then it is Westminster Council …

BillyBloggsJuly 10th, 2012 at 5:23 pm

Greedy cunts Truly the “more Equal Animals” slurping at the trough, all at the public teat

MikeJuly 11th, 2012 at 3:44 pm

I, too, would be interested to know what WCC think makes a “Clearway”!? Certainly, the spaces in Charlotte Street, as per the sign shown in this article, ARE (now) only available to “Olympic” vehicles. However, parking spaces both before and after this “Clearway”, on the same stretch of straight road, are unchanged, as also are the parking bays on the other side of the “Clearway” part of the same street. So, the “Clearway” stretches just a few parking bays on ONE side of the street ONLY!?

So, what will all the *other* WCC “Clearways” look like?

MikeJuly 12th, 2012 at 11:17 am

An UPDATED version of the WCC document listing streets where parking will be affected by the Olympics has now been published, with some significant changes in wording! See page :-

I’ve just discovered as I parked up this morning that my m/c bay in Drury Lane is suspended from 26th July – 13th Aug because it will become a Clearway.

Had enough of all this Olympic crap already!

SezerOctober 19th, 2012 at 2:48 pm

Could anyone tell me if the motorbike parking bays were suspended on 09//08/2012
I parked my bike paid my fee I remember the sign saying the suspension starts on 10/08/2012
I still managed to get a ticket at 18:50 which is now £195
Thanks

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